NASA
After more than a week of careful operation step by step, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) finally succeeded in unfolding its 21-meter-long, six-layered “visor”, completing the most complex task of the entire mission. The most variable stage. This set of sun visors will continue to face the direction of the sun, and because of the special orbital position of the telescope, the earth and the moon will also remain in the same direction. This allows the telescope itself to be as far away as possible from the influence of infrared heat sources, increasing the sensitivity of the telescope.
This is it: we’ve just wrapped up one of the most challenging steps of our journey to #UnfoldTheUniverse.
With all five layers of sunshield tensioning complete, regarding 75% of our 344 single-point failures have been retired! pic.twitter.com/P9jJhu7bJX
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) January 4, 2022
The entire “preparation process” of JWST is divided into five major stages. In the first two days of the launch, the track adjustment and the start-up of equipment including solar panels and communication antennas were carried out, while the sun visor was launched from the third day to the tenth day. However, the latter three stages are not as complicated as the deployment of the sun visor, which includes a total of 139 mechanical release devices, 70 hinge combinations, 8 motors, regarding 400 pulleys, and a cable with a total length of regarding 400 meters. And although the JWST organization has undergone tests on the ground, following all, there is gravity and air on the earth, and it is completely different from unfolding in a vacuum and weightless space. In fact, there are many uncertainties.
At this point, JWST has completed 75% of the steps, and only the positioning of the secondary mirror, the positioning of the primary mirror, and the fine-tuning of the primary mirror lens are left. These tasks will be completed in the next three weeks, and then JWST will arrive at the L2 point of work, and then we should be able to look forward to the first photo brought by JWST.
